Display devices, such as monitors and TVs, are becoming increasingly prevalent in today's society. Manufacturers of displays are always searching for more efficient ways to transport video pixel streams within their display devices. Communicating data between modules and components within a display device should be done within minimum complication. In addition, the modules and components themselves, such as controllers, SOCs (system on chips), and timing controllers, should be kept simple and the amount of processing they are required to do should be kept to a minimum. These interconnections should be robust with respect to interoperability and should be cost-effective. If possible, they should leverage existing display interface technologies.
Existing Timing Controller (TCON) technology, now nearly 15 years old, used to transport a video pixel stream between a TV/monitor controller (SOC) and a TV/monitor panel TCON is becoming outdated and is not able to meet the more demanding requirements of display manufacturers. The technology uses many wires in parallel and is slow. It also uses Low Voltage Differential Signalling (LVDS) where the link rate is not fixed and where there may be different rates that are proportional to the pixel rate.